Genji defeats DRX in a nail-biter to win inaugural title

The Olympic Park handball stadium was packed with 3,000 spectators and the fans were roaring. It was a nail-biter that went into double overtime. Zenji won its first Pacific League championship in a thrilling come-from-behind victory.

Genji defeated DRX 3-1 (6-13, 18-16, 14-12, 13-6) in the Pacific League Stage 2 Final of the 2024 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) at the Seoul Olympic Park Handball Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The victory earned Genji its first title, $100,000 in prize money and the No. 1 seed in the Pacific League at Champions Seoul in August. Sang-beom “Munchkin” Byun was named MVP.

After reaching the finals through the winner’s bracket finals, Genji chose Haven as their first map after eliminating Sunset and Abyss, followed by DRX on Bind, Genji on Lotus, and DRX on Icebox. The remaining map, Ascent, was decided for the final five-set match.

Overcoming the disadvantages of the map banfic, the first game started favorably for RDX. They went on the offensive in Haven, scoring a staggering nine consecutive rounds of destruction in the first half of the game to take the first set 13-6 and take control of the match.

Sets two and three were the highlights of the final. After losing the opening game, ZENGE came out aggressively 파워볼실시간 in the second set and took a 7-5 lead, but DRX fought back to tie the game at 12-12 and force overtime. After 10 more rounds of back-and-forth action, Genji edged out DRX 18-16 to even the set at 1-1.

Set three, ‘Lotus’, was equally as intense, with both teams fighting hard. After ending the first half with a 7-5 lead, ZENZY managed to take a single late point to make it 11-8, only to see DRX take four more rounds to make it 12-11.

With only one round left to take the set, ZENZY took the 24th round to force the second overtime of the day. Coming from behind, ZENZY took the 25th and 26th rounds, both defensively and offensively, to take the set 2-1.

Perhaps exhausted from the two overtime periods, RDX collapsed sharply in the fourth round after a strong start to the fourth set in the ‘Icebox’. Genji, who showed weaknesses in pistol rounds, went into the second half with a 7-5 lead after the first half, thanks to their defense in round four. In the second half, they scored six kills to close out the final 13-6.